Rams Finish Strong in Final Tune-Up Before Atlantic 10 Championship

THE BASICS: The VCU Men's Track and Field team competed against more than 100 college track and field programs from across the country in the New Balance Invitational at the historic Armory in New York, N.Y. over the weekend. The meet was separated into a championship and college division because of the size of the event.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Sophomore Brandon Ruffin broke the school record in the shot put. Ruffin placed eighth with his record throw of 17.06 meters. Classmate Ryan Coles set a personal record in the event with a throw of 16.07 meters.

Ruffin also placed eighth in the weight throw. The Chesapeake, Va. native set a personal-best 18.12-meter toss. Senior Frank Afriyie tied a personal record of 17.38 meters and redshirt junior Luke Thomason threw a PR of 15.27 meters in the weight throw

Senior Brenden Leavitt won the 5,000-meter run, defeating 19 other racers. The Virginia Beach, Va. native set a new personal-record of 14:35.39.

In the men's 400-meter preliminary race, sophomore George Moore set a personal record with a time of 49.32 seconds. Classmate Tehquin Warrick ran a season-best 49.33 seconds in the prelims as well.

Freshman Kyle Martin continued his strong rookie campaign with a second place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. Martin ran a career-best 8.19 seconds.

Senior Alex Hinton placed fifth in the 800-meter race with a personal-best time of 1:54.13.

In the mile, sophomore Khalid Khamis set a new personal record with a time of 4:20.76.

QUOTABLE:
"We had a very productive weekend with plenty of good performances. This was a final tune up for the Atlantic 10 Championships and it seems as though everything is coming together. I am excited about our first indoor conference championship and our plan will be to show up and show out."-VCU Head Coach Jon Riley

WHAT'S AHEAD: The Rams will have next weekend off before heading to Kingston, R.I. for the Atlantic 10 Track and Field Indoor Conference Championships Feb. 16-17.